As long as industry has shipped products, it has been faced with the problem of what to do with the shipping container once the product has been received. Once the goods or products are removed from their container, typically it is either discarded entirely or shipped back to the manufacturer. Should the receiver of the product decide to discard the shipping container, the results are increased loads on an already overburdened landfill system, temporary storage, and related labor costs. Should the receiver decide to return or reuse the container, costs will be incurred with regard to reassembly, and shipping. Typically, it has been inefficient to return empty containers to their origin because their large volume prevented returning them in large quantities. Thus, it has been a goal in the art to achieve a desirable return ratio, i.e., a ratio reflecting as great a difference as possible between the assembled and collapsed volume of the shipping container. Additionally, the containers tend to lose structural integrity with each repeated use and will eventually reach a point after which it will be rendered useless. The utilization of plastics with high strength to weight ratio which are recyclable has been used in the art to overcome this weakness.
Shipping containers have typically been constructed of materials such as wood or paper (particularly cardboard), the use of which has fallen into public disfavor because of their impact upon the environment. Industry has incurred additional costs in shipping due to heightened environmental sensitivity and increased costs of raw materials. The use of recyclable plastics for shipping containers also overcomes this concern.
Many of the above described difficulties are exacerbated if the materials to be shipped are glass windshields. The general difficulty in safely shipping glass, plus the great variety of windshield shapes and sizes, makes it very difficult to design a container that will safely accommodate such variations. Furthermore, recent development in car designs, such as the aerodynamic Ford Windstar van, have increased windshield heights to approximately 48 inches tall. Future windshield designs are sure to further increase windshield heights as more and more of the front of the car is glass. In shipping windshields, it is also essential that outside forces on the shipping crate, such as those which occur during shifting of loads in transit, stacking of containers, and loading and unloading with forklifts are deflected as much as possible from the container contents. As such, methods of shipping windshields of all sizes safely, while still achieving the desired return ratio, are currently desired in the art. Such containers would also be useful for shipping other fragile materials such as plate glass, computers, or any material where forces must be deflected away from the contents.
Collapsible, reusable shipping containers are known in the prior art. U.S. Pat. No. 3,809,278 to Csumrik discloses a collapsible container in which the component parts may be conveniently stored between the lid and the base, as illustrated in FIG. 3, thereof U.S. Pat. No. 4,044,910, to Box discloses a crate for shipping produce which includes a base, two inwardly folding side walls, and two inwardly folding end walls. Each of the side and end walls is hinged near the base of the crate. A shipping container which can be disassembled and stacked together for shipping and storage is disclosed by Goutille in U.S. Pat. No. 4,506,798. The fastening devices, which when assembled, hold the side panels to the base and to the roof and can also be used to fasten the roof directly to the base when the container is collapsed. While it is intended that the sides be sandwiched between the base and roof when in this collapsed state, the roof is directly attached to the base, regardless of whether or not the sides are positioned there between. Richter, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,190,179, discloses a container in which the sides collapse inward in an accordion like fashion. Finally, while not collapsible, U.S. Pat. No. 3,963,122 discloses a container for shipping automotive backlights which includes an adjustable back support and inflatable member to hold the backlights in place. None of these containers of the prior art overcome the difficulties discussed above, particularly as applied to shipping of fragile materials such as windshields, plate glass, computers, or other delicate machinery.